One more Joliet truck stop planned near bridge

A fourth truck stop has been proposed for the vicinity of the Houbolt Road bridge, which is slated to open by the spring.

The latest proposal is for a truck stop on the south end of the Des Plaines River. Three others have been proposed on the north end where the toll bridge will link up with Houbolt Road to give trucks a new path to the Interstate 80 interchange.

The bridge will provide a connection to the CenterPoint Intermodal Center and its two intermodal yards in Joliet and Elwood.

Legacy Express Trucking, which already has an operation in Joliet, wants to build a truck and travel fuel center and a truck terminal in the 23500 block of South Vetter Road.

The proposal goes to the Joliet Zoning Board of Appeals on Thursday for consideration of a special use permit and to the Plan Commission on the same day for annexation and rezoning.

Legacy Express wants to develop 18 acres, according to a city staff memo to the zoning board.

The fuel center would include 22 automobile gas pumps and 12 truck fuel pumps. There would be a convenience store with 59 automobile parking spaces.

The terminal would be located behind the truck stop. It would include a 25,600-square-foot warehouse with office space, 26 automobile parking spaces, and 73 truck parking stalls. It would include a 7,875-square-foot building for truck repairs.

Legacy Express would continue to operate its existing facility at 2800 Schweitzer Road, according to the staff memo. The company operates about 120 trucks at Schweitzer and would operate another 60 for daily short-haul trips at the new facility.

While the Legacy Express proposal is the first planned for the south end of the bridge, it is within about a mile of a Food N Fuel truck that opened several years ago on Vetter Road. Food N Fuel also wants to open on the north end of the bridge at the corner of Houbolt Road and Route 6.

Another truck stop is proposed for Houbolt and Route 6, and one more is planned for Houbolt and Mound roads.